Rappani Khalilov

Rappani Khalilov (27 October 1969-17 September 2007) was the leader of the Shariat Jamaat of the Caucasian Front in Dagestan.

Biography
Rappani Khalilov was born in Buynaksk, Dagestan (part of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, Soviet Union), to a Lak family (Laks are the largest ethnic group in the region) in 1969. His name in Dagestani Arabic means "pertaining to God" (the Arabic spelling is "Rabbani").

Khalilov served in the Soviet Army prior to 1998, stationed on the border with Mongolia; he later worked at a family-run bakery. In 1998, he married the sister of the wife of Mujahideen commander Ibn al-Khattab. He grew close to Islamic ideologists and made friends with Khattab and Shamil Basayev, and joined in training camps for foreign mujahideen fighters. In 1999 he fought in the Dagestan War against Russia, and created his own group of rebels.

In 2002, Khalilov was first blamed by the Russian government for a bombing of a Victory Day parade in the city of Kaspiysk. He became highly popular with the local youth and was compared to Basayev, although not nearly as cruel. Khalilov became friends with Chechen commanders Abdul-Halim Basayev and Abu Hafs al-Urduni, both of whom were killed before he was.

Death
Russian special forces (Spetsnaz) launched an operation near Novy Sulak in Dagestan on 17 September 2007, and Ministry of Internal Affairs troops (MVD) blocked Khalilov and two militants into a private residence. In a firefight, one Russian soldier was killed and ten were wounded, so the Russians finished the house by running it down with a tank and seven APCs. He was one of the bodies found in the rubble, along with his deputy. Dokka Umarov named him "Hero of the Nation", the highest accolade in the separatist movement.